Kochi: In a major setback for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Guruvayur Infrastructure Private Limited (GIPL), the Kerala High Court here on Wednesday refused to lift the ban on toll collection at Paliyekkara along the Mannuthy-Edappally stretch of NH 544. The court issued the order after Thrissur District Collector Arjun Pandian submitted that NH is yet to fix the issues on the road.

Observing the Collector’s submission, the division bench of Justice A Muhamed Mustaque and Justice Harisankar V Menon ruled that toll collection at Paliyekkara will remain suspended until the NHAI complies with directions for road repair work. 

Assistant Solicitor General of India ARL Sundaresan, who appeared for the NHAI, informed the court that all the directions will be complied with at the earliest. At the same time, he argued that toll collection should not be suspended indefinitely. 

Responding to this, the bench criticised NHAI for not taking immediate action when the district collector reported the poor road condition in February.

"We also don't want to postpone. We understand the dilemma faced by everyone... but you had enough time from February when District Collector started proceedings", Justice Mustaque orally observed.

The bench directed the Collector to verify whether NHAI has complied the directions and report back to the Court by September 15.

Earlier, the HC ordered the constitution of an interim traffic management committee comprising the district collector, district police superintendent and the Regional Transport Officer to monitor traffic conditions in the area. This order was issued after traffic congestion continued for nearly 12 hours on the stretch of Thrissur-Angamaly road of NH 544.

It was on August 6, the High Court had ordered a two-week halt to toll collection at Paliyekkara, citing lapses on the part of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in addressing persistent traffic congestion and the poor condition of the Mannuthy–Edappally stretch of the highway.

(With Bar and Bench inputs)